MDR – Article 36 – Requirements relating to notified bodies

Article 36

Requirements relating to notified bodies

1. Notified bodies shall fulfil the tasks for which they are designated in accordance with this Regulation. They shall satisfy the organisational and general requirements and the quality management, resource and process requirements that are necessary to fulfil those tasks. In particular, notified bodies shall comply with Annex VII.

In order to meet the requirements referred to in the first subparagraph, notified bodies shall have permanent availability of sufficient administrative, technical and scientific personnel in accordance with Section 3.1.1 of Annex VII and personnel with relevant clinical expertise in accordance with Section 3.2.4 of Annex VII, where possible employed by the notified body itself.

The personnel referred to in Sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.7 of Annex VII shall be employed by the notified body itself and shall not be external experts or subcontractors.

2. Notified bodies shall make available and submit upon request all relevant documentation, including the manufacturer’s documentation, to the authority responsible for notified bodies to allow it to conduct its assessment, designation, notification, monitoring and surveillance activities and to facilitate the assessment outlined in this Chapter.

3. In order to ensure the uniform application of the requirements set out in Annex VII, the Commission may adopt implementing acts, to the extent necessary to resolve issues of divergent interpretation and of practical application. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 114(3).

MDR – Article 35 – Authorities responsible for notified bodies

Article 35

Authorities responsible for notified bodies

1. Any Member State that intends to designate a conformity assessment body as a notified body, or has designated a notified body, to carry out conformity assessment activities under this Regulation shall appoint an authority (‘authority responsible for notified bodies’), which may consist of separate constituent entities under national law and shall be responsible for setting up and carrying out the necessary procedures for the assessment, designation and notification of conformity assessment bodies and for the monitoring of notified bodies, including subcontractors and subsidiaries of those bodies.

2. The authority responsible for notified bodies shall be established, organised and operated so as to safeguard the objectivity and impartiality of its activities and to avoid any conflicts of interests with conformity assessment bodies.

3. The authority responsible for notified bodies shall be organised in a manner such that each decision relating to designation or notification is taken by personnel different from those who carried out the assessment.

4. The authority responsible for notified bodies shall not perform any activities that notified bodies perform on a commercial or competitive basis

5. The authority responsible for notified bodies shall safeguard the confidential aspects of the information it obtains. However, it shall exchange information on notified bodies with other Member States, the Commission and, when required, with other regulatory authorities.

6. The authority responsible for notified bodies shall have a sufficient number of competent personnel permanently available for the proper performance of its tasks.

Where the authority responsible for notified bodies is a different authority from the national competent authority for medical devices, it shall ensure that the national authority responsible for medical devices is consulted on relevant matters.

7. Member States shall make publicly available general information on their measures governing the assessment, designation and notification of conformity assessment bodies and for the monitoring of notified bodies, and on changes which have a significant impact on such tasks.

8. The authority responsible for notified bodies shall participate in the peer-review activities provided for in Article 48.